Wireless networks and systems are becoming increasingly popular. But wireless communications are constrained due to a lack of available, interference free spectrum that may be used for reliable communications within a geographic area.
To enhance the availability and reliability of interference free spectrum, procedures that are governed by regulatory agencies (e.g., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States) have been developed for allocating and governing spectrum use. In the U.S., for example, the FCC licenses spectrum in a primary spectrum market to Commission licensees. A secondary market exists for the Commission licensees to sublease spectrum for use by other parties. Conventional secondary market leases involve the wholesaling of a spectrum holder's spectrum to another party. This is a one party to one party transaction in which use rights for an entire monolithic block of spectrum are transferred.
By regulation, most subleases in the U.S. involve the submission of a license filing with the FCC and the payment of a corresponding fee to the FCC. As will be appreciated, preparation of the license filing may be time consuming and costly, especially if legal counsel is involved. Regulatory compliance when transferring spectrum use rights places a burden on the free transfer of spectrum use rights, especially when parties may be interested in transferring only a portion of a commission license's use rights in terms of geographic area, duration and/or frequency.